It'll take a while for Texans quarterback Matt Schaub to become a household name. Currently people call the new signal caller .... Schaub or Schwab ..... or just the new kid. Whatever they call him Schaub needs to stay focused on his business of becoming a quality NFL quarterback.

Friday was the first time the Texans allowed cameras into a full squad practice ....and wouldn't you know it ...... 2 of the first 3 snaps from center were bobbled by Schaub. Continuous play like that will make his name worse than Schwab ....it'll be mud.
Then a few snaps later .... the play that David Carr become known for .... (the 5 yard dump pass over the middle to the running back) ...during that play .. Schaub actually hit offensive guard Chester Pitts in the head. Oh well ...it was just one practice. But what's that old saying that goes ..."You only get one chance to make a first impression." Well, the first impression during 11 on 11 drills wasn't so great.

The best news for Schaub though is that head coach Gary Kubiak is not worried at all about his starting quarterback and he loves what he sees in him. Kubiak knew Schaub would have some jitters today because this is the first training camp he's ever been in where he is The Man. Still .... Schaub's teammates are saying nothing but positive things about him and that's a very good thing.

The other news from the opening day of camp was that first round pick Amobi Okoye was there after signing his contract late last night and free agent wide receiver Keenan McCardell ...a Houston native also was there after signing a deal last night. In special team news .... wide receiver/kick returner Jerome Mathis didn't pull a hamstring (which is darned near bulletin material) ....and free agent punter Matt Turk ...who was brought in to compete with veteran Chad Stanley ...looked very good. Turk has a very strong leg. He scraped the top of the practice bubble twice with punts. We were standing there trying to remember if we had ever seen that before in live action .....when Stanley went in to punt ...and on his first punt he too scraped the ceiling. It was pretty amazing ....but that's what compeition does to football players ...it brings out the best in them.

All in all .... it was a very good first practice for Camp Kubiak Year 2. The talent level is obviously up from where it was just one year ago ... and with Schaub helping provide a lot of the leadership now this looks like a confident football team when it takes the field. We'll be watching to see if they still have that same confidence after they open the regular season. Maybe by then people will also know that the Texans' new quarterback is not Charles Shwab's son. The name is Schaub, Matt Schaub.

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